News & PR

McArdle Group improve logistic efficiency on the M25 by using The PODFather

Wednesday, 22nd July 2009

Based at its new Head Office in Colnbrook near Slough, the McArdle Group offers a range of diverse, but complimentary civil engineering services to both the building and civil engineering sectors of the construction industry and it is chiefly involved in the ground preparatory work on the motorway widening contract.

The early stages of this contract requires McArdle Group to manage and implement a complex haulage management system as part of its wider remit to remove and replace millions of tonnes of soils, aggregates and other materials. Peak haulage requirements exceed 100 tipper trucks undertaking in excess of 700 loads per day, which for the first time on a major construction contract, will use The PODFather, a pioneering Proof of Delivery system which electronically manages the entire Pick Up/Drop Off administration to track and record every load.

The PODFather technology remotely captures information from sites around the M25, and helps manage dispatch and delivery operations more effectively.

The PODFather enables any organisation with a disparate “field” workforce to adopt a “paperless” approach to all its procedures and transactions. It effectively bridges the gap between the field-based workforce – McArdle's lorry fleet and site staff for example - and office staff, and so becomes critical to business success.

The PODFather has been customised to best fit the operational requirements of McArdle Group. Peter Murphy, IT Manager at McArdle Group, describes the system:

"Whereas until now, every procedure was recorded manually when a truck arrived on site, the PODFather has automated this process. Previously, this would involve a manual ticketing process whereby, on completing their operations, a driver would issue a ticket to a foreman and all paperwork would then be collated and returned to McArdle Group’s office."

Peter adds, “Now that The PODFather has been adopted to automate procedures, the onsite ‘Checkers’ can quickly record the details of all vehicles and materials arriving at the works site. Each vehicle has a bar-coded sticker on the side of the cab, whilst the Checker has a site reference barcode on a lanyard worn around the neck.

"When the vehicle pulls up to collect the load, the bar code is scanned both on the vehicle and lanyard which generates a unique vehicle and site reference number. The Checker then inputs the quantity and material type – e.g. topsoil, subsoil, or recycled material - onto the PODFather system after which the driver signs The PODFather screen to acknowledge receipt.

"On doing this, a paper ticket is generated by the Checker through a Bluetooth printer which is issued to the Driver. Importantly each printed ticket is unique as the vehicle/site reference number is encoded in a 2D barcode.

"When the driver delivers the load, the ticket is presented to the Checker at the tip-site. The 2D barcode is scanned where the details of the collection are confirmed by the checker – including a rescan of the vehicle and tip-site barcodes – before signing the PDA to confirm delivery. A real-time check is performed by The PODFather to ensure tickets aren't double scanned which prevents both accidental and fraudulent duplication of tickets.

"Assuming everything is correct, a second delivery ticket is printed and given to the driver for the driver's invoicing purposes, and to ensure we comply with industry regulations such as ‘Duty of Care’ requirements.

"When tickets are uploaded to The PODFather system, the Collection and Delivery tickets are automatically matched, so they can then be reconciled and invoices generated before data is integrated into our internal systems.

"McArdle Group use COINS (a construction industry financial management system) so the entire process is robust to help reduce both onsite and office workflow, and the risk of potential loss of job tickets. Most importantly, this enables McArdle Group to speed up its cash-flow and gives the company greater efficiency with its invoicing procedures."

For McArdle Group, The PODFather has been integrated into Motorola Symbol MC35 handsets and linked through to Zebra RW420 Bluetooth printers.

Read the full case study here

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